`Ala` St. Augustinegrass

ABSTRACT

An asexually reproduced variety of perennial St. Augustinegrass with a unique combination of characters including white stigmas, yellow anthers, an absence of leaf hairs, floret number per raceme, raceme length, leaf length, and internode length, having good turf performance, good winter hardiness, and a distinct DNA fingerprint.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a new and distinct perennial St. Augustinegrass cultivar, tested as Ala, that was discovered by the inventor in a home lawn in Glenwood, Ala. It was identified as a clone superior in quality and density from the surrounding common St. Augustinegrass. Ala was asexually propagated by cutting of stolons, rooting them, and moving Ala to Buckholts, Tex. for further study. Ala is a high quality, stoloniferous turf with moderate winter hardiness for use as a lawn or turf wherever St. Augustinegrass is adapted, with winter survival in the northern areas of St. Augustinegrass adaptation, such as Austin, Tex.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG. 1 shows DNA fingerprints of St. Augustinegrass varieties. The DNA fingerprints were produced by polymerase chain reaction using random primers, illustrating Ala is different from Seville and Raleigh.

FIG. 2 is a photograph of a vegetative stolen of Ala.

FIG. 3 is a photographof the leaf blade and ligule of Ala.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT

Ala was characterized in greenhouse and field conditions. Ala is a unique variety of St. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze] discovered under cultivated, mowed turf conditions at the home lawn described above. Ala was identified as higher in density and quality from the surrounding common St. Augustinegrass. Ala was propagated by cutting of stolons, rooting them in soil, and planting of the rooted stolons to provide planting stock for studying performance and for comparisons with commercial varieties. Ala remained stable in both performance and morphological characters after propagation. Ala has been propagated by sod, plugs, and stolons. No seedling establishment from Ala has been noticed in either greenhouse or field plantings, suggesting lack of sexual reproduction.

Ala is distinguished from other varieties of St. Augustinegrass by the combination of characters of white stigmas, yellow anthers, floret number per raceme, raceme length, leaf length, internode length, and lack of leaf hairs. Ala shows a distinct DNA fingerprint. Ala is closest in appearance and performance to Raleigh St. Augustinegrass.

The creeping stolons of Ala are dorsiventrally compressed and root adventitiously at the nodes. Ala lacks rhizomes. Color notations of plant tissues were based on the Munsell Color Charts for Plant Tissues, Munsell Color, Baltimore, Md., 1977. Color notations are affected by light quality and fertility and general growth of the plants. Ala has a distinct lack of purple color in the stolons, in contrast to many St. Augustinegrasses. Leaf blades of Ala are folded in the bud, contracted at the base, and obtuse at the tip. There is an absence of hairs on the leaf blades of Ala. Measured under greenhouse conditions in July 1994, the genetic, adaxial leaf color of Ala is 7.5 GY 5.4, with Raleigh having a color of 5 GY 5/8.

The ligule of Ala is a line of short hairs, approximately 2 mm in length. The leaf sheaths are laterally compressed and are approximately 38.6 mm in length (Table 1), shorter than Raleigh at a mean of 40.9.

The flag leaf width of Ala is 6.4 mm, with Raleigh having a mean of 8.0 mm (Table 2). Ala has white stigmas and yellow anthers, undistinguished in color from other plants of the species (Table 3). The floral region of Ala consists of spikelets partially embedded in a flattened and thickened rachis of a short, unilateral spicate inflorescence with a raceme length of 57 to 71 mm (Table 4). Ala has a mean of 25 florets per raceme, which trends to be a lower number of spikelets than Raleigh, and more than Seville (Table 4). The mean spikelet length of Ala is 3.89 mm, with Raleigh having a mean of 4.23, measured under the same growth conditions. The spikelets of Ala are awnless. The dates of flowering are similar to that of Raleigh.

The mean stolon internode diameter of Ala is 2.38×2.97 mm, less than Raleigh with a stolon diameter of 3.1×3.5 mm. Ala has a mean internode length of 4.8 cm (Table 5), shorter than Raleigh with a mean of 7.8 cm, and longer than Seville with a mean of 4.2 cm. The shorter internode length of Ala compared to Raleigh contributes to a tight turf canopy and high quality. Ala is vigorous in growth, and spreads by leafy stolons with formation of tight turf by tiller production. Ala readily develops adventitious roots, an advantage in vegetative propagation. The rooting depth of Ala appears to be average, without observation of the extremely deep rooting character of some St. Augustinegrasses.

The chromosome number of Ala is 18.

Quality in turf performance may be defined as a combination of characters of color, density, uniformity, and leaf texture. Density is defined as the number of leaves and tillers per unit area. Uniformity is defined as freedom from weeds or diseases. Ala shows high quality turf performance in field trials in Buckholts, Tex., Ala showed quality as a fine leaf texture of 7.0 mm on the second youngest leaf, compared to Raleigh with a leaf texture of 7.2 mm. Ala has good turf performance when mowed at 5 cm mowing height, with a rotary mower. Ala is vigorous in establishing a turf cover, as indicated in the growth from a 7.5% cover to 52.5% in an approximate 6 month period (Table 6). Ala expresses high vigor in tiller density, forming a dense and uniform turf, competitive against weed invasion. Ala is intermediate in rate of greenup, having a mean of 7.5% on Apr. 22, 1994, with Raleigh showing 17.5% and Seville 3.3% on the same date in Buckholts, Tex. Ala was intermediate in entering winter dormancy, earlier than Seville, and similar to Raleigh at Buckholts, Tex.

The high quality performance of Ala may be directly related to the high tiller density which competes with weeds, and the superior winter hardiness (tested as survival in Buckholts, Tex.). Ala has shown good drought resistance with continued growth as unirrigated turf adjacent to Texas Common St. Augustinegrass in Buckholts, Tex. Ala illustrated no excessive thatching tendencies when maintained as turf as observed in Buckholts, Tex., and in the original collection site, Glenwood, Ala. Ala has shown moderate susceptibility to gray leaf spot and brown patch in the Buckholts, Tex. The shade tolerance of Ala has not been tested. The chinch bug and other insect resistances of Ala have not been tested in replicated trials; however, no insect problems were observed in the test areas.

With the presence of white stigmas, yellow anthers, and an absence of leaf hairs, Ala is distinguished from all patented St. Augustinegrasses except #141, 6-72-99 (Delmar), and 6-72-182 (Table 3, 3a). Ala exhibits more florets per raceme than Seville (Table 4), is not different from number of florets per raceme than Raleigh, but has a shorter raceme length than Raleigh. Ala has a flag leaf sheath longer than Seville (Table 1); Seville has a flag leaf sheath longer than 6-72-182 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 6,922). Ala has a raceme averaging 65.1 mm (Table 4). Delmar has a spike 93 mm in length (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 6,372), with #141 having an average length of 8.97 cm (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 3,834), both longer than Ala. Ala has longer internodes (Table 5) than #141 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 3,834). In turf evaluations, Ala exhibited a density rating not different from Seville or Raleigh (Tables 6). Ala shows a distinctly different DNA from Seville and Raleigh using PCR DNA fingerprints (FIG. 1).

DETAILED SUMMARY OF DNA FINGERPRINT ANALYSIS

Dr. Lin Wu, Univ. California -- Davis, performed the DNA fingerprint analysis. The St. Augustinegrass DNA fingerprints were Ala, Seville, and Raleigh. The DNA fingerprints were produced by polymerase chain reaction using random primers. The four DNA fingerprint profiles of each variety produced by the primers A9 and A16 from the left to right are the DNA profiles of the two duplicate DNA extractions extracted from the leaf tissue of the vegetatively propagated clones. The results of the DNA fingerprint analysis are summarized:

1. Ala is different from Raleigh by Primer A9 and A16.

2. Ala is different from Seville by Primer A9 and A16.

                  TABLE 1                                                          ______________________________________                                         Morphological comparisons of Ala and                                           commercial St. Augustinegrass varieties measured                               from plants maintained in greenhouse pots                                                Sheath   Sheath     Sheath Leaf                                                Length.sup.1                                                                            Length.sup.2                                                                              Length.sup.3                                                                          Width.sup.3                               Variety   mm       mm         mm     mm                                        ______________________________________                                         Ala       50.4a    38.7a      26.8a  7.6c                                      Raleigh   52.9a    36.3a      33.6a  8.9a                                      Seville   35.2b    22.4c      17.6c  5.8c                                      ______________________________________                                          .sup.1 Measured on flag leaf sheaths, Sept. 1993; Mean separation by           General Linear Models.                                                         .sup.2 Measured on flag leaf sheaths, Oct. 1994; Mean separation by            Waller/Duncan tests.                                                           .sup.3 Measured on third youngest leaf, Spet. 1993; Mean separation by         Waller/Duncan tests.                                                     

                  TABLE 2                                                          ______________________________________                                         Comparisons of Ala and other                                                   St. Augustinegrass flag leaf widths and lengths                                         Flag Leaf    Flag Leaf Flag Leaf                                               Width.sup.1  Width.sup.2                                                                              Length.sup.3                                   Variety  mm           mm        mm                                             ______________________________________                                         Ala      7.1a         5.7b      21.2a                                          Raleigh  7.9a         8.1a      19.8a                                          Seville  5.9b         5.1b      9.9b                                           ______________________________________                                          .sup.1 Measured July 1994 on greenhouse planted material with mean             separation by Waller/Duncan tests.                                             .sup.2 Measured Oct. 1994 on greenhouse planted material with mean             separation by Waller/Duncan tests.                                             .sup.3 Measured Oct. 1994 on greenhouse planted material with mean             separation by Waller/Duncan test.                                        

                  TABLE 3                                                          ______________________________________                                         Stigma color, anther color, and presence                                       of leaf hairs on St. Augustinegrass varieties from                             plants maintained in greenhouse pots, July 1994                                             Stigma     Anther     Leaf                                        Variety      Color      Color      Hairs                                       ______________________________________                                         Ala          white      yellow     absent                                      Raleigh      white      yellow     absent                                      Seville      purple     yellow     absent                                      ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 3a                                                         ______________________________________                                         Stigma color, anther color, and leaf hairs                                     of St. Augustinegrasses as listed in U.S. Plant Patents                                  Stigma   Anther    Leaf   US                                         Variety   Color    Color     Hairs  Pat. No.                                   ______________________________________                                         Ea 611081 Purple   •   •                                                                               2,863                                      Ea 6416   Purple   •   •                                                                               2,864                                      Ea 673    Purple   •   •                                                                               3,180                                      #4875     Purple*  •   •                                                                               3,491                                      73176     Purple   •   •                                                                               3,681                                      45176     Purple   •   •                                                                               3,698                                      #141      White    •   •                                                                               3,834                                      615866    Purple   •   •                                                                               4,097                                      (Seville)                                                                      PS-247    Purple   Light     •                                                                               6,126                                                         purple                                                      6-72-99   White    Yellow    •                                                                               6,372                                      (Delmar)                                                                       6-72-182  White    Yellow    •                                                                               6,921                                      6-72-130  Purple   Purple    •                                                                               6,922                                      FX-33     Purple   Orange    Many   7,699                                                         Yellow    Present                                           FX-10     5RP 3/10 10YR 7/10        7,852                                      ______________________________________                                          *With white filaments                                                    

                  TABLE 4                                                          ______________________________________                                         Morphological comparisons of Ala and                                           other commercial St. Augustinegrass varieties                                  measured from plants maintained in greenhouse pots                             ______________________________________                                                   Floret.sup.1 Floret.sup.2                                                                            Floret.sup.3                                   Variety   #            #        #                                              ______________________________________                                         Ala       29.4a        28.2ab   17.6ab                                         Raleigh   34.2a        30.1a    19.2a                                          Seville   24.1b        23.7b    13.0b                                          ______________________________________                                                   Raceme       Raceme   Raceme                                                   Length.sup.1 Length.sup.2                                                                            Length.sup.3                                   Variety   mm           mm       mm                                             ______________________________________                                         Ala       70.5b        67.8b    57.1a                                          Raleigh   93.3a        76.5a    59.6a                                          Seville   67.8b        61.3c    41.7b                                          ______________________________________                                          .sup.1 Measured Sept. 1993; mean separation by General Linear Models.          .sup.2 Measured July 1994; mean separation by Waller/Duncan tests.             .sup.3 Measured October 1994; mean separation by Waller/Duncan tests.    

                  TABLE 5                                                          ______________________________________                                         Stolon internode lengths of Ala and                                            commercial St. Augustinegrass varieties measured                               from plants maintained in greenhouse pots                                                    Internode Internode                                              Variety       2-3       3-4                                                    ______________________________________                                         Ala           4.7c.sup.1                                                                               4.9c                                                   Raleigh       8.1a      7.5a                                                   Seville       4.1c      4.2c                                                   ______________________________________                                          .sup.1 Measured 2 October 1994 with mean separation by Waller/Duncan           tests.                                                                   

                  TABLE 6                                                          ______________________________________                                         Percent plot cover and density ratings of                                      Ala and other commercial St. Augustinegrass varieties                          established July 1993 from plugs in replicated trials                          at Buckholts, Texas. Percent cover relates to                                  winter survival as measured on 22 April 1994                                          Date                                                                           22 Apr 94 17 Oct 94 17 Oct 94                                           Variety  % Cover           Density Rating                                      ______________________________________                                         Ala      7.5b.sup.1  52.5a.sup.1                                                                              4.5a.sup.2                                      Raleigh  17.5a       80.0a     5.5a                                            Seville  3.3b        52.5a     4.0a                                            Tx.      1.3b        3.0b      0.3b                                            Comm.                                                                          ______________________________________                                          .sup.1 Mean separation by Waller/Duncan.                                       .sup.2 Ratings made on a scale of 1-9 with 9 = most dense, with mean           separation by Waller/Duncan.                                              

I claim:
 1. A new and distinct cultivar of an asexually reproduced St. Augustinegrass plant substantially as herein shown and described, with a unique combination of characters including white stigmas, yellow anthers, an absence of leaf hairs, floret number per raceme, raceme length, internode length, having good turf performance, good winter hardiness, and a distinct DNA fingerprint. 